This invention relates generally to retail anti-theft packaging for tape cassettes, and particularly to a security cassette holder having integrally formed retaining ramps to restrict or prevent removal of a cassette tape from the security holder.
Several types of anti-theft packaging and security holders for tape cassettes are known to the art.
Display cabinets for placement in retail stores which permit viewing of several tape cassettes but which restrict removal of those cassettes unless authorized by store personnel are common. A representative example of such a display cabinet is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,142. Similar types of display cabinets have a plexiglass front wall having several circular ports through which customers may reach and examine tapes, but which do not permit their removal unless the glass front wall is opened. Such a display cabinet having a single port for use in combination with an audio cassette package is shown in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,549.
Display cabinets of this type generally require store personnel to unlock the cabinet when a customer wishes to purchase a tape cassette, which is inconvenient or impractical in large stores where no specific personnel are responsible for that product area. Where several customers may require assistance simultaneously, such display cabinets place a large demand on the time of store personnel. Moreover, the customer is often left with an unfavorable impression, and may choose to refrain from further purchases.
Consequently, it has become more accepted for stores to package tape cassettes in oversized anti-theft holders, and display the tape cassettes openly on racks and shelves. The anti-theft holders do not restrict the customer's view of the tape cassette box, yet are large enough to prevent the tape cassette and holder from being easily concealed by a person attempting to steal the tape cassette. These anti-theft holders generally have a locking closure to retain the tape cassette within the frame or housing of the holder, with the tape cassette being removed at the point of purchase by the store personnel, or sold within the holder and removed by the customer by cutting open a portion of the frame of the holder.
Representative examples of such anti-theft holders for use with tape cassettes or eight-track tapes are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,871,516 and 4,381,836, each having a removable or pivotal lid to enclose the tape cassette within an oversized frame including a handle region. Another type of anti-theft holder incorporates a substantially enclosed frame or housing into which a tape cassette may be slidably placed, with the opening through which the tape cassette is inserted being closed by a plug or key, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,285,429 and 4,714,161. The key or plug may also be fashioned to comprise one of the end walls of the frame itself, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,572,369 and 4,567,983. The mechanisms employed in such security cassette holders can become quite complicated, such as the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,540 which utilizes a fly-weight and magnetic field to control a locking mechanism.
Another type of security holder incorporates a plurality of pivotal tabs or projections positioned adjacent to the opening through which the cassette is inserted into the enclosure or frame, the tabs or projections restricting the insertion or removal of the cassette. U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,922 discloses a anti-theft packaging device in which five pivotal tabs are used, three tabs being aligned along one of the longitudinal walls, and two tabs positioned in a confronting arrangement with one tab adjacent each of the side walls. The walls of the frame are generally resilient or rigid, and the tabs are hingedly connected to the corresponding walls and separated or displaced at an angle therefrom. The cassette presses against and flexes the tabs outwardly when the cassette is inserted into the enclosure through the opening, the tabs moving relative to the walls of the frame rather than the frame itself being deformable. The walls adjacent to and disposed behind the tabs are cut away to allow the tabs to be pressed outwardly so as to be relatively flush with the walls, thereby permitting the minimum dimensional tolerances for the opening of the enclosure. Once the cassette is inserted into the enclosure, thereby allowing the tabs to spring back inwardly to their position restricting the opening of the enclosure, a tool is utilized to press the tabs outwardly such that the cassette may be removed. The cassette must therefore be removed at the time of checkout by a cashier or store employee.
A related concept for retaining the cassette within the frame or enclosure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,741 wherein the cassette is held in place by a rib formed on the top face of the enclosure and a unidirectional hook-shaped retention member on the opposing surface. The frame is distorted when the cassette is inserted through the opening, with the leading edge of the cassette riding under the rib and the trailing edge being engaged by the hook. The retention members are pivoted on lever arms such that the enclosure may be indestructibly distorted as the cassette is inserted. Similar to the '922 device, the frame of this cassette holder is not flexed or distorted when the cassette is inserted, but the lever arms pivot relative to the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,933,240 discloses a similar embodiment of a cassette security holder which employs a pair of more complicated multi-piece retention clips associated with spaced key slots for retaining the cassette. The clips are disposed on opposing side surfaces of the frame or enclosure adjacent to the opening through which the cassette is inserted. The cassette is removed by use of a release device located at the checkout counter, and the security holder is then reused. This cassette holder also includes an alarm activating trigger similar to those utilized to prevent the theft of clothing. Again, the frame of this security holder does not flex, but the clips may be moved relative to the frame.
Several common goals have been recognized in the design of such security holders, particularly for articles such as prerecorded cassettes and the like. First, it must be extremely difficult or impossible for a person to remove the article from the security holder while in the store without actually destroying or damaging the holder itself. The security holder must therefore be resistant to any manipulation or physical distortion which would permit removal of the article. Second, it is preferred that the article must be cut from the holder by the customer after the purchase, thus eliminating the need for complicated unlocking devices or the expenditure of time by checkout personnel, and thereby diminishing any opportunity for a person to tamper with the mechanism on the security holder. Third, since each holder is not reused and would therefore represent an expense to the store or customer. it is desirable to manufacture the holder at a minimum cost. Similarly, reducing the time or equipment necessary to insert the articles into the holders is an important goal, as well as eliminating the number or variety of separate pieces which the store personnel must use.